Saturday, May 21, 2016
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Gerrit Cole didn’t have to give a detailed explanation about why he was the winning pitcher.
“Defense,” the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander said. “Stellar defense all over the diamond.”
Starling Marte and John Jaso had two hits each and made fine defensive plays to help Cole navigate through seven shaky innings as the Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1 on Friday night.
Cole (5-3) scattered 10 hits and a walk while not recording a strikeout as he won his second straight start. He allowed only one run after pitching eight scoreless innings last Sunday to beat the Cubs at Chicago.
Cole had failed to get past the sixth inning in his first six starts.
“Well, nobody can say he can’t win a game without striking out a lot of guys,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He found a different way to win and that’s a good learning experience for him.”
David Freese snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-out single in the sixth inning to give the Pirates their fifth win in six games and eighth straight victory over the Rockies.
Marte preserved the 2-1 lead in the seventh by throwing out Dustin Garneau at home to end the inning as he tried to score from second base on Charlie Blackmon’s single to left.
It was Marte’s sixth outfield assist, tying for the National League lead with San Diego’s Matt Kemp. He led the NL with 16 last season.
“It’s always fun to throw someone out, especially in a big situation,” Marte said. “I just try to throw it hard, not do too much, and hit the target.”
Garneau said he knew he was taking a risk by running on Marte.
“We all know that these guys can throw in the outfield and Marte’s got a special arm so I tried to get as far as I could of a lead at second base and get a good read,” Garneau said. “The ball one-hopped him and he’s got a freaking cannon. So, besides plowing (catcher Francisco) Cervelli, I really had no shot.”
Mark Melancon worked around two singles in a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 15 opportunities.
Jaso, playing first base, twice robbed DJ LeMahieu of potential extra-base hits by snaring line drives and started an inning-ending double play after catching one in the second.
“The first one was pretty much reflexes but it prepared me to be ready when it happened again,” Jaso said.
Jaso grabbed Gerardo Parra’s one-out slow roller in the fourth inning and threw home for the forceout. Cole then ended the inning by getting LeMahieu to ground out.
Jaso led off the first inning and scored the game’s first run on Gregory Polanco’s groundout.